(Reuters) – Four-time Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles became the first woman to land a Yurchenko double pike in competition at the U.S. Classic in Indianapolis on Saturday, while winning the all-around title in her first meet since October 2019.
Biles, who last competed at the 2019 World Championships, had an all-around score of 58.4 points and finished ahead of training partner Jordan Chiles, despite falling off the uneven bars on her final event.
The 24-year-old Biles, who sported a rhinestone goat on the back of her white leotard on Saturday, has won every meet she has entered since the 2013 U.S. Championships.
“It was really nerve-racking, but I’m just happy to be back out here,” NBC Sports quoted Biles as saying.
For the Yurchenko double pike, Biles sprinted down the runway, did a roundoff onto the takeoff board, followed by a back handspring with a half-twist onto the vault before finishing it with a double somersault in a piked position.
She scored a 16.1, higher than either of her gold medal-winning vaults at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Biles also posted the highest scores on balance beam, floor exercise and vault at the U.S. Classic, the first of three major competitions before the July 23-Aug. 8 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
